NBA Lame Dunk Contest

Terrence Ross, Paul George, and John Wall won the Slam Dunk Contest as a team, but did it add anything?

The NBA All-Star festivities were in their second day yesterday, with the the Shooting Stars Challenge, Skills Contest, 3 Point Shootout, and Slam Dunk Contest.  Usually, these events are promoted as the highlight of the whole weekend, but after watching them, I have to say that they were all a complete dud.  The challenges had their moments individually, but they were all boring as a whole.  Even the Slam Dunk Contest, which actually had good dunkers in it, was not as good as I thought it'd be with their confusing new format, and the fact that everyone besides John Wall couldn't do their dunk on their first try.  Yes, there was some good teamwork involved, but if they left things in the traditional format, I think people would have enjoyed that more since it would have just made more sense.

Can All-Star weekend be salvaged?  I would like to say yes because the NBA is always changing and trying to appeal to fans, but they've already tried changing their format so many times, so I don't know if anything new would drastically improve things.  One thing I will say though, is that I think it's taking a step in the right direction with more superstars being in it.  As long as that's the case, then there will always be fan interest during All-Star weekend, even if it sucks.  I think yesterday night's commentary proved something though.  They kept talking about how Paul George was the best athlete and dunker that night, and they were right.  But we all know if LeBron James, Kevin Durant, or more superstars were in it, the quality would have been better.  KD gets a pass because he's competed in the festivities before, but we know LeBron never will (even for charity).  It's a shame, but as long as things stay like that, with mediocre competition and rules, the All-Star weekend will always be a dud.

John Wall doing the best dunk of the night